Air Force starts assessment survey

By Staff Sgt. C. Todd Lopez

WASHINGTON (May 01, 2003) -- After a short delay because of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 2003 Air Force Community Assessment survey is under way.

According to the director of family advocacy research, the agency responsible for conducting the assessment, the survey is now being sent out to more than 180,000 randomly chosen active-duty and Reserve airmen and their spouses.

Maj. James D. Whitworth said Air Force officials will use results from the assessment to learn how to better help airmen and their families.

Questions on the assessment are written to help leaders at Air Force installations gain insight into how people feel about their communities and the services provided within those communities, Whitworth said.

Airmen can complete the survey via the World Wide Web. Spouses have the option of completing it on the Web or on paper. The assessment will take less than 20 minutes to complete, Whitworth said.

According to Whitworth, the effectiveness of the assessment depends on participants’ willingness to accurately complete it.

“We want to make improvements in our communities without guessing,” Whitworth said. “We need to know people’s thoughts and needs. If people don’t tell us what they need or what their problems are, we can’t help them. This assessment is their chance to do that."